I hope that even if we (on G_L) are not paying too much attention on the coming by-elections, the opposition back home (especially UDP) is on full alert. I remember seeing a few days ago reports stating that Ousainou Darboe was questioning the decision by the IEC to count the ballots away from the polling stations (let someone please correct me if I am wrong). I can certainly understand the opposition's concerns and I respectfully urge them to be on the watch. What Roberts is trying to do, should be obvious to a six year old. If the opposition blinks for one second, this corrupt Yaya crony will steal the elections for Yaya. They want to mess with the ballot boxes. Simple as that. For starters, the opposition should insist that the ballots are counted at the respective polling stations, with IEC officials, APRC supporters and opposition supporters, present. After the votes are publicly counted and tabulated, the IEC officials can come together and give a final tally. In this scenario, we avoid the phenomenon of missing ballot boxes and tampered ballot boxes. Plan 'B' for the opposition should be to ensure that they have their own trusted and armed representatives in any vehicle that is used to transport these ballots to God knows where. These armed guards should be ready to kill anyone that wants to steal the elections. This is war. Do not for one moment trust Roberts to do the right thing. Any opportunity he has, he will do like he did in 1997 and steal the elections for Yaya. The opposition should not give these vermin any opportunity to tamper with the ballots. The ground rules have to be agreed upon right now and the rules have to ensure a level playing field. If Yaya or Roberts are trying to give APRC an advantage, the opposition should be ready to pounce on Yaya and Roberts. These seats are for UDP to keep. Under no circumstances should they allow an impotent like Yaya to collude with cowards like Roberts and steal these seats for APRC. If the opposition sense foul play, they should blow the whistle forthwith. We should take steps to monitor the elections and make sure that it is fought on a level playing field. Let Roberts also know we have our eyes on him. The rapidity with which he called these elections, is noted. The press should ask him to explain why the IEC is dragging its feet on Local Government elections. KB _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------